Posted on 07/31/2003 1:22:13 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
An intermediate appellate court in Waco has upheld the felony child pornography conviction and seven-year prison sentence of a former Baylor University professor.
Waco's 10th Court of Appeals overruled Bruce Watson's appeal on Wednesday, determining that he didn't have permission to appeal after his guilty plea and rejecting his assertion that the statute under which he was convicted is unconstitutional.
Watson, 44, a non-tenured French professor who had been with Baylor 12 years, was indicted in September 2000 on 10 counts of possession of child pornography. University officials discovered hundreds of images of nude children and children engaged in sex acts on Watson's office computer after he exchanged his old computer for a new one.
Similar images also were found at his home, officials have said.
As part of a plea bargain, prosecutors recommended that Watson serve seven years in prison but agreed not to oppose his request for probation.
Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court denied Watson's request for probation and sentenced him to prison in April 2002.
Watson's wife, Jessica Watson, a former part-time Baylor English instructor and a graduate student at the time, pleaded guilty to Class A misdemeanor obscenity and was placed on probation.
Watson has been free on $50,000 appeal bond and will be entitled to remain free until his appeals are exhausted, court officials said Wednesday.
Watson's attorney, Charles W. McDonald, said he had not seen the court's opinion and could not comment on it. McDonald said he likely will ask the 10th Court to reconsider its opinion and has until Aug. 14 to file a motion for rehearing. If that fails, he said he will ask the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to accept an appeal of the case.
If that is denied, a mandate will be issued and Watson will be picked up for the execution of the seven-year sentence, McDonald said.
"We are going to keep fighting this until we run out of courts, and we are not out of courts yet," McDonald said.
McDonald said Watson has been living in Waco since Baylor fired him after his arrest in June 2000. McDonald declined to say if Watson is employed.
Prosecutor Crawford Long said the 10th Court's opinion was appropriate.
"We agree with the court that the Texas child pornography statute is constitutional and agree that the defendant was properly convicted and sentenced by the trial court," Long said.
Watson claimed in his appeal that he had the right to appeal his conviction and sentence despite his guilty plea and that the the state's child pornography laws violate the United States and Texas constitutions because they are vague, overly broad and violate free speech guarantees.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.